Tears of Rainfall
by Dawning Break
Summary: A fifteen year old girl is caught up in the Purge, eventually meeting Hope and Vanille. While having to face her brother's supposed death, she faces the same fate as the others: becoming a l'Cie. First story. Sucky summary, the story inside is better!
1. Despair and Death

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

**Chapter 1: Despair and Death**

**(A/N) This is the first fan fic that I've ever posted on here, so I'm kind of nervous to be honest xD Sorry if it's like, terrible. I'm already ahead on Chapter 7. BTW, I've been watching videos of someone else playing this game. I think it looks pretty cool ^^ I can't play it because: 1) No PS3/XBox360. 2) Because of #1, no game. So yeah, I hope you like this. xD Oh, and sorry if it's short ._. I know like, three of the later chapters came up as like 7-8 pages long.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing; I only own Rhayne, Jhasel, and any other unfamiliar characters. **

I hid among the crowd of people, feeling helpless. My knees were pulled up to my chest, trying to turn into a ball, only so I could roll off of the edge of this bridge. They were also pulled up to my chest, because I was hiding the small tears that cascaded down my cheeks as I listened to the saddening whispers of the crowd.

"We should have never fought back."

"We're all going to die."

"We didn't do anything wrong."

"It's over…it's all over…"

I felt absolutely miserable, listening to every word that the rest of these people said. The worst part about it was; I was agreeing with them. I hated agreeing with them, because deep down, I actually knew that we were going to survive. But could I believe it?

"Rhayne?"

I looked up, and remembered that I still had someone to be with me through all of this.

My brother, Jhasel, was looking at me with concern, his hand resting on my shoulder.

I took a shaky breath, and made a 'hm' sound, looking back down.

I sensed that Jhasel was about to respond, but he was interrupted by the sound of about four people walking up to our crowd of people, one of them speaking.

"You all okay?"

I looked up once again, over a few heads that were in my way.

In front of the crowd was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He had a black bandana that rested on his head, black gloves, a long beige trench coat which had a light blue vest under it, a striped blue scarf hanging from his belt, and large gray boots.

One of the people with him, a skinny boy, ran up next to the man, but tripped and fell, dropping a few things.

The man looked at the boy, and grunted, but then grinned a bit. "Careful with those."

The skinny boy looked up and grinned in response, mentally apologizing.

The man looked back at all of us and said, "No one will be going up to Pulse today. We'll clear a path in the area, and-"

"Wait a second! We're fighting too!"

"Yeah, we can't leave all of the fighting to you!"

There was an explosion in the distance, and the man looked back. He sighed with a small smile, and looked back at us.

"Alrighty then. Volunteers; front and center," the man said.

A bunch of people from our crowd got up as the skinny boy handed them guns, nodding.

And much to my surprise, Jhasel got up with a sigh, about to walk up to the man.

I looked up at my brother, grief stricken. He was the only family I had left, and yet he was going to leave me? On a suicide mission? There was a good reason behind it, but…I mean…

"Rhayne," my brother said quietly.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at him, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall down my face.

"Promise that I'll come back to you. Alright?" he said, looking down at me with a comforting smile.

I just stared at him, and couldn't help but watch as he sighed and walked up to the man. The man didn't even reject him; he sent a small smile to my brother and handed him a gun, whispering something to him. Of course he wouldn't reject my brother… He was around 20, and he was stronger than I was. He was even tall, which proved him to be a strong person. I could tell that he was around four inches smaller than the man.

"Alright, one left. Someone take it!" the man shouted.

A smallish figure shook his head, repeating one word as he backed up.

Another figure got on her knees and held out her arms for the gun like a child.

The man laughed a bit and gave her the gun, to which she responded by turning it towards him and pretending to shoot him, saying "Bam!" The man played along with this, grinning as he pretended to be hurt by the pretend bullet that the girl shot at him.

The man turned around, nodding. "Alright, let's go!"

I ran along with the crowd of people that didn't volunteer, including the girl and the smallish boy. A girl that was with the man also came along with us so that we wouldn't get injured on the way to safety.

We came around to a small area, and everyone collapsed on the floor, panting slightly from the run.

I, however, walked over to a ledge, watching as a battle took place. Out of all of the debris and dust, I saw some of the figures of the people that volunteered. And then I noticed a figure that looked like the man that seemed to be the leader of this whole thing.

I watched as the man nearly fell off of the ledge, holding on to a woman. I recognized her as one of the mothers that were with the crowd. I hadn't noticed that she had joined with the volunteers. I then saw Jhasel run over, trying to pull the man and woman back up to safety, but they were slipping.

The smallish boy ran up next to me, and he gasped before he yelled, "MOM!"

I took a glance at the boy, feeling sympathetic for him. That was his mom out there, and I was worried so much about my brother. I couldn't help but think; what if his mother was the only family he had left? Like how Jhasel was the only family that I had left in this mess?

The sound of metal scraping against metal, and the boy screamed as his mother slipped from the man's grip, falling down below. I put a hand over my mouth, and then the man fell as well. That's when I took notice…

Jhasel was falling with them. He had been holding on to the man to pull him up to safety, and now he was falling, his life about to disappear with the fall.

I clenched my fists, letting tears trickle down my face once again. Three people had just fallen off of the ledge; who knew how many more died at the hands of our enemy?

The girl from before walked up to the boy and shook him as she gripped his shoulders, trying to snap him out of it as he started to cry a bit as well. She sighed and slapped the boy across the face, making him look up at her in shock.

Even I stopped crying and looked at the girl, who glanced at me after she slapped the boy.

"We should get away from here now," she said, and took the boy's hand as she started to run away. I followed, since I had no where else to go obviously.

The girl abruptly stopped and shed her robe, and I immediately took notice that she had a dark shade of pink, almost light red hair in two curly pig tails, along with striking green eyes.

The boy shook his head and shed his robe as well. He had short silver hair, and pale green eyes. There was no trace of his recent tears.

I decided to go along with it and slipped my robe off. My hair was a dark blue, almost cobalt, and it was curly a bit at the ends. It was around mid-back length, and it draped over my right shoulder. It wasn't its real color though; it was actually a lighter blue, it was only almost cobalt because of the recent events, which got me dirtied up; bangs swept to the right side of my face. I was wearing a red tank top that had some black stitches in it; spaghetti straps went over my shoulders, a light pink short sleeved cropped jacket that was unzipped, along with red gloves that stopped at my wrist and were open fingered. I also had on dark red shorts that had a smallish satchel attached to them by a few strings that were tied to my gray belt. To complete it, I had on boots that were a light red, and they reached up to almost my knees.

The girl smiled at both me and the silver-haired boy and said, "I'm Vanille. And who are you?" she asked the boy.

The boy hesitated, but replied with, "I'm Hope."

Without anyone asking me, I said, "My name is Rhayne. It's nice to meet you…Vanille and Hope."

(A/N) So I hoped you like this. :D It took me awhile to figure out how to do this chapter, but I got through it. So, yeah anyways, please review.


	2. Crash Landing With a Battle

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

**(A/N) Yay, second chapter! :D As we speak I'm on Chapter 8. Hope you like it; again, sorry for any mistakes **

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFXIII, only Rhayne, Jhasel if he ever comes back, Razhen, and Tiscin. (I know, I come up with the weirdest names xD)**

_**Chapter 2: Crash Landing With a Battle**_

The three of us; me, Hope, and Vanille, continued on our way, away from the people, and away from any danger.

IA little while later, we were at a small wreck, where a few people were waiting. I thought they were waiting for us, but I was proven wrong when two flying machines zoomed up to three people that were waiting for them. I immediately recognized the two people inside the flying machines, as they were the man and one of his friends from earlier.

I clenched my fists, thoughts running through my head.

Jhasel was dead because of this man…And so was Hope's mother. So, how were they dead, yet this man survived?

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked at Vanille, who was smiling at me comfortingly.

"You should both talk to him!" Vanille said with a smile, looking at Hope.

Hope hesitated, shaking his head silently as he stared at the ground.

Vanille sighed helplessly and looked at me.

I shook my head, but she nodded her head in return. She got behind me and pushed me forward. A few seconds later, Hope was pushed to my side too, even with his protest.

Hope looked at Vanille, who was waving at us, meaning that we should go up to the man.

I sighed and took a step forward, but just then the bridge rumbled. I fell to my knees, and Hope fell on his butt. Vanille fell backwards, landing on her back painfully. The cause of the rumbling was one of the flying machines, and the man was riding away in one with a grin. His four friends waved from the end of the bridge, laughing.

Watching them kind of reminded me of my brother… When we visited Bodhum to see his friends and the fireworks.

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

A cleaner version of Rhayne sat on a small hill with three boys, facing the sky as they watched fireworks.

One of the boys was her brother, Jhasel, and the other two were their guy friends, Razhen and Tiscin.

"You gonna make a wish?" Razhen asked the three others. He never made a wish on the fireworks, because he thought it wasn't true.

"Yeah!" Rhayne said excitedly, staring up at the fireworks.

Tiscin laughed a bit, sitting up. "Probably."

Jhasel looked at Razhen. "I might. Why?"

Razhen stretched his arms above him. "Just…wondering."

For no reason, the four friends started laughing like idiots a few seconds later. Rhayne was only 15 but that didn't get in her way of hanging out with her 19 year old brother, her 17 year old guy friend, and her brother's 21 year old friend.

Tiscin, the 18 year old, waved his arm in the air dismissively. "Alright now, enough laughing. Time to make some wishes."

Razhen turned his head towards Tiscin, the red tattoo on the side of his face shown clearly in the dark. "For you three, anyways. Remember I don't believe in wishing on fireworks?"

Rhayne giggled and looked at Razhen. "Well, you should!" she said, and playfully punched his arm after she sat up.

Razhen grinned at Rhayne and sat up, putting a hand on his arm. "Ouch, that hurt," he said jokingly.

Jhasel rolled his eyes with a small smile.

Tiscin smiled at his friends, and looked back up at the fireworks, crossing his arms.

_*****End Flashback*****_

"Rhayne?" Vanille said, shaking me.

I shook my head and looked at her, smiling at her a bit. "Yeah?"

Vanille pointed to Hope, who was seated in one of the flying machines, looking confused and nervous.

"Uh…I don't do rides…" I said, trying to back up; I couldn't though, because Vanille was holding my arm.

"Don't worry!" Vanille said, trying to reassure me. She pushed me towards the vehicle, and then pushed me again so I fell inside of the machine, landing behind Hope.

Hope flinched at the action and looked at Vanille. "I really don't think…"

Vanille got into the machine after me as I sat up. "Come on, you can do it!" she said.

Hope sighed as he stared at the controls, trying to figure out what to do first.

I was as sure as hell that I didn't want to die, so I wrapped my arms around Hope's waist tightly.

Hope flinched again, but only slightly as he almost ignored the action this time.

Vanille wrapped her arms around my stomach, and I was sure that she didn't want to die either.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

I looked out of the machine and saw that one of the man's friends was running towards us, waving his arms in an attempt to stop us.

"GO!" Vanille and I yelled in unison.

"OKAY!" Hope nearly shouted, and pressed a button. We all screamed as the machine jerked up off of the ground, and then forward. The machine started to spin around wildly, and then it hit a large wire that was supporting the bridge. I screamed even louder, and I was sure that Hope was about to go deaf.

The machine jerked forward again and Hope tried to pilot it, but it was no use as the machine flew on its own. It was probably going to crash land somewhere, and I really didn't want to know for sure as I closed my eyes, resting my head against Hope's back as I stopped screaming.

I groaned as I sat up, rubbing the back of my head. I looked around and noticed Hope laying on Vanille's back, both unconscious.

I sighed and stood up, ignoring the pain in my chest. _Probably broke a rib,_ I thought.

"Hey…Rhayne!"

I sighed once again. To be honest, I was getting kind of tired of people calling my name out of complete silence.

"Rhayne! Don't you ignore me!"

I looked up at whoever called me for the second time. I realized that the voice sounded familiar. Really familiar. It could've been Jhasel, but he died…didn't he?

"Okay, that's it! Rhayne Lenise, you better answer me right now!"

I flinched as a large throwing star hit the ground in front of me, and I stepped back, looking up as someone stepped out of some shadows.

It looked like a boy around 18. He had short black hair that reached to his lower jaw and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue cloth jacket that had a white shirt under it, gray open-fingered gloves, along with a belt that hung off of his left side, gray pants and black combat boots. He had a small grin planted on his face.

Immediately, I recognized the boy.

"Tiscin?" I asked stupidly. I wanted to make sure it was him.

Tiscin nodded with a sigh, and then said, "Throw that back to me, will you?"

I looked down at the throwing star and picked it up by one of the spikes. It was lighter than I thought it was, so I threw it to Tiscin, who caught it easily by one of the spikes.

Tiscin spun the throwing star a few times, and soon it was smaller than it originally was. He put it into a pocket in his jacket, and glanced at Hope and Vanille, who were finally waking up.

Vanille yawned as she looked up at me. She stood up and stretched, waving her hand. "How long have you been awake?"

"I don't know…awhile?" I answered. Really, I was unsure of how long I had been awake.

"Well, it's okay! Let's go explore!" Vanille said happily, and started running up some stairs. It seemed like she ignored Tiscin. Figures.

Hope had a confused expression, but just shook his head and looked at me.

I shrugged, and then looked back at Tiscin. He was still standing in the spot where I first saw him, arms crossed behind his back.

I wasn't aware that Hope walked up behind me, and I only figured that out when he tapped me on the shoulder. I responded by nearly slapping him across the face as I turned around.

And really, at that moment, I was aware that I was Hope's height. That made me feel like a real shorty, compared to my brother.

Hope flinched a bit and backed up a step; he proceeded to whisper, "Is he coming with us?" He looked at the floor, glancing up at me now and then.

I looked over at Tiscin, but he seemed to have heard Hope even though he whispered. He was walking over to us, which probably meant he was gonna join, but he stopped a few feet away.

"Hey, are you—?" I started.

"I'm gonna go searching for Jhasel and Razhen." Tiscin said simply, and turned around, walking away from us.

I stared after him; he was one of my friends, and I considered him family, and now he was leaving? He just got here too, right? I just shook my head, trying to forget about the whole thing and turned around, walking up the steps.

_*****Hope's Perspective*****_

Hope stared after Rhayne, and after a few seconds, he turned around to where Tiscin walked off.

After Tiscin had walked away, Hope had seen something that glittered in the light. He walked over to it and picked it up, almost dropping it because of the cold metal.

The object was a small silver chain bracelet, with a few charms on it; a red heart, a yellow star, and a black pair of wings. One charm that stood out was a flower that was silver and black; the petals being silver. He turned the bracelet over, noticing a name on each charm.

On the heart was the name 'JHASEL'. The yellow star had the name 'RAZHEN'. The black pair of wings had the name 'TISCIN'. Lastly, the flower had the name 'RHAYNE'.

Hope figured that this was a charm bracelet from Rhayne's friends and brother. He sighed and shoved the bracelet into his pocket, deciding that he would give it to Rhayne later.

"Hope, c'mon!"

_*****Rhayne's Perspective*****_

I watched as Hope ran up the steps and over to me. I sighed and asked, "What were you doing?"

"Looking at something…" Hope replied, and walked around a statue as Vanille hopped off of its base, holding out a rod that had a headpiece that resembled antlers.

Vanille danced around with the rod, perhaps modeling or something.

I laughed a bit, and then turned around as I heard growling.

Hope turned around too, and Vanille held out her rod, getting ready to attack.

We got in battle against this monster, but then it occurred to me…

"Wait, I don't have a weapon!" I said, noticing that Vanille had a rod and Hope had a colorful boomerang.

Vanille threw two guns at me **(1)**. I caught them and looked at them, looking back up at Vanille.

"Use them." Vanille answered, and flicked her rod towards the monster. Four strings shot out and pulled the monster a bit, as well as damaging it **(2)**.

Hope threw his boomerang at the monster, hitting it and flying back to Hope.

I gulped nervously as I noticed that I hardly had experience in fighting. But then I realized that Vanille and Hope probably had no experience in fighting either, so I aimed both guns at the monster and pulled the triggers. Two bullets shot at the monster, finishing it off.

"Uh…Well…We should probably move on now, right?" I said as I tried to figure out where to put my guns.

**I'm not trying to copy Sazh; I'm just having Rhayne use two guns until she gets her new weapon later. I didn't think she'd like to use a sword in her first fight, so I set her up with guns for a bit.**

**This is the first battle that I've ever tried doing. But I think I'll improve as this fan fic goes on.**

**(A/N) Please review! :DD**


	3. Crystallization

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

**I'm going up to New York for the weekend, so I won't be able to post. ****But I'm going to post two or three chapters today; atleast attempt to. I'm fixing up Chapter 6 right now, and then that means that I'll probably have to fix the beginning of Chapter 7. By the way, did anyone else see The Last Airbender movie? :D Hah okay, enough chit-chat; go ahead and read up! :D**

**Chapter 3: Crystallization**

I followed Vanille and Hope, participating in battles against monsters as we searched for the man that was responsible for my brother's and Hope's mother's deaths.

"Serah! Your hero's on the way!"

My head snapped towards the ceiling. I recognized that voice; it belonged to the man.

Some beams of light appeared, and then a set of stairs moved into place in front of us.

Hope glared as he stared at the stairs. "He _is_ here…" he said angrily.

"How dare he call himself a hero," I growled, following Hope's gaze.

Vanille looked at us both, and then walked up to us, leaning forward with her hands behind her back. "He's coming our way."

Hope looked at Vanille, and his expression turned from angry to scared, as it seemed.

"What should I do?" he asked.

I decided to stay out of their conversation, and stared up the stairs. I knew what I was gonna do; I would confront the man and ask him why he let my brother die. So I already had it planned.

"Rhayne, c'mon!" I heard Hope yell.

I snapped out of my thoughts to see Hope and Vanille running up the steps and through the door that was up top, and Hope was slowing down a bit as he tried to get my attention.

I ran after them quickly. I wanted to stay and confront this man, but I also wanted to stay with Hope and Vanille; so that's what I decided.

We fought through more monsters, eventually making it to a platform. But then we were sealed off from any exits, and yellow electrical gates formed at each exit.

I gasped as more monsters walked through the gates, twitching and walking slowly. They looked like humans, but they were black with rough crystals all over their body, and they had claws.

"What are they?" Hope questioned with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Cie'th; l'Cie who failed!" Vanille answered as we all backed up into each other.

"I think…this is what happens when l'Cie don't finish the focus that fal'Cie give them." I said, grabbing for my guns, which were hanging from my belt.

Suddenly, a man came running up the steps. He punched one of the Cie'th and ran over to us, getting in a fighting stance. "Let's even these odds!"

We started battle against three of the Cie'th. I shot my guns twice at one of the Cie'th, damaging it. Vanille followed by flicking her rod, the same four wires shooting forward and damaging the same Cie'th that I injured.

The battle ended as soon as it had started, and Hope fell to his knees, panting. I almost fell over too, but I stayed standing; I needed to be strong.

The man turned to the three of us and said, "How did you three get in here? You have to leave."

Vanille looked at the man, and then at Hope, who was looking up at the man angrily.

The man sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Okay, listen. Just go hide someplace and keep quiet. Got it? Once I find Serah, we're all leaving together."

I glared as the man laughed before he said, "You'll be home in time for dinner, don't worry." And with that, the man turned to go down the steps.

"You…" Hope started.

"Wait a sec!" Vanille said.

The man stopped and turned to us.

Vanille hesitated, but I cut in quickly. "Who's…Serah?" I asked.

The man stared at us for a minute before answering, "My wife…future wife, I mean."

"She's a Pulse l'Cie," he continued.

Vanille put her hands to her mouth as she mumbled, "Oh no…"

I tensed slightly, and I was pretty sure that Hope felt the same way that I felt; angry.

"She's here…somewhere… Along with that fal'Cie," he continued again as he turned back towards the stairs. "I have to find her. Set her free."

Hope stood up on his feet, staring at the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" Hope said; I couldn't tell if he was sad, or angry… "Why do you want to help a l'Cie? They're the enemy!"

I listened as Hope continued on; "How can you save a l'Cie…and not…And not…"

"That's just…insane!" I cut in, glaring at the man.

The man looked guilty, but I was sure it wasn't guilt.

"Probably," he said. "But…I have to do something. Right?" He waved as he turned around and walked down the stairs. "I'll be back!"

Hope fell to his knees again and Vanille stared after the man. I just stood still, trying to relax.

"Maybe…we should wait for him…to hitch a ride?" Vanille suggested.

Hope stayed silent, and Vanille went to touch his shoulder, but Hope suddenly banged his fists against the ground.

"I'd rather go to Pulse!" Hope growled. He calmed down a bit before saying, "Why is this…happening to me? When they found the fal'Cie the other day…we were only visiting Bodhum. But that army took us. They threw us on the train."

He clenched his fists as he stared at the ground. "And so, because of that guy…mom… is—"

I frowned at Hope and kneeled down. I was on the verge of tears, but I kept them back. "My brother is dead because of him too, Hope…" I looked at the ground, avoiding Hope's and Vanille's eyes. "We were visiting Bodhum…me and him…to see his friends. But what happens? The army takes all four of us, and throws us onto the train…"

I held back a sob and closed my eyes so the tears wouldn't escape.

There was a small moment of silence before Hope continued again. "And he wants to help…a l'Cie…"

Vanille frowned at us and looked at the stairs to see the man run back up to us.

"Uh, hey again," the man said with a small smile and a wave.

Vanille nodded and walked in front of us, kneeling down as she grabbed my left hand and Hope's right hand.

"C'mon, let's go with him!" Vanille said.

Hope looked up at her with a confused expression.

"What…why?" I asked, looking up at Vanille.

"You've gotta talk to him," she paused before continuing. "Both of you. If neither of you take this chance, then…you'll regret it forever."

Hope hesitated, but then nodded. "Alright."

I sighed, but nodded as well.

Vanille smiled and pulled us to our feet.

"Alright, let's go!" the man said, turning to go down the steps. We followed him as he ran down, Hope and I filled with regained confidence.

**XxXxXxX**

I looked around as we went down an elevator-like platform, and gasped as we came down to three people; two women and a man.

"Serah!" the man said; I figured out that his name was Snow Villiers.

Snow jumped from the platform before it stopped, and ran to the two women, grasping the one girl's hand when he got to them.

"Serah…" Snow whispered.

I heard the girl named Serah say, "Is that…my hero?"

Me, Hope, and Vanille walked over to the group. Vanille put her hands to her mouth when she got a good look at Serah. I just frowned sadly; this girl was a l'Cie, and she looked so innocent.

"Let's get you out of here, alright?" Snow said.

The girl holding Serah glared at Snow as she said, "Hands off. I'm taking her home."

Snow looked at the girl, still holding Serah's hand.

"Sis, I—"

"I'm not your sister!" the girl growled. She looked back down at Serah sadly. "It's your fault…You couldn't protect her…"

"You can…save us." Serah said, looking up at the girl.

"Serah?" the girl said, staring at her.

"You can save us…" Serah repeated. "Protect us…all."

I had to clear my thoughts in order to hear Serah finish with, "Save…Cocoon."

"Save Cocoon…? Serah… Was that your focus?" the girl asked.

Serah closed her eyes. "Anything… I'll do…anything."

Snow stared at Serah before saying, "Leave it to me…You'll see. I'll save Cocoon! I'll protect everyone!"

The girl glanced at Snow before looking back at Serah. "Somehow, I'll make things right."

"Just relax." Snow finished.

Serah smiled and opened her eyes one last time.

"Thank you."

I nearly flinched as Serah started glowing blue and floating into the air.

"Serah?" Snow mumbled. "Serah!"

Serah's hand slipped from Snow's as she floated higher. She put her hands together as she crystallized. I thought it was beautiful, but then I realized that it was probably bad.

"Why is she turning into crystal?" Vanille asked, staring at Serah.

I looked at Hope as he answered, "L'Cie who complete their Focus are transformed into crystal, and given eternal life."

"Just like the stories say…" I mumbled staring back at the now crystallized Serah.

"Sweet dreams…Serah…" Snow nearly whispered.

The girl must've gotten angry at this. She pushed the still-unidentified man as she walked up to Snow. "Sweet dreams?" The girl grabbed a hold of the collar of Snow's trench coat.

"She's not sleeping!" the girl said angrily. "Serah's…She's—" She let go of Snow roughly and turned to Serah's crystallized form.

"She's alive, though." Snow said.

The girl looked at Snow and mumbled, "No…"

"Remember the legend." Snow answered quickly and sadly. "It's the same with Serah! Eternal life…So she's not dead!"

Snow calmed down a bit before he said, "Sera's my wife-to-be. I promised to be hers forever…I don't care how many years I have to wait—"

The girl suddenly punched Snow in the face, causing him to fall back and hit the ground roughly.

I flinched at the sudden action. It was all sad for a moment; and then it was so sudden.

"It's over!" the girl shouted. "Open your eyes and face reality!"

Snow stared at the ceiling, probably too stunned.

_Serah…_I thought. _Does becoming a l'Cie…mean you'll give up everything? Just lose it all?_

Suddenly, the room shook. I looked around, nearly falling over along with Hope, Vanille, and everyone else.

"What now?" Vanille said. Hope got to his knees and put his hands over his ears.

The other man looked around too, and a thought came to him. "The army!"

Snow and the girl huddled over Serah as they covered their ears, protecting her.

Vanille and I looked around as thick wires cut through the room.

"What's happening?" Vanille nearly shouted over the noise.

"This must be a Sanctum strike!" the man yelled. "Bring down the Vestige and the fal'Cie with it!"

Vanille ran over to the man and grabbed his forearms. "Aren't they taking it back to Pulse? Isn't that what the Purge was?"

I got on my knees next to Hope, putting a hand on his back as I tried to stay steady.

"All they care about is getting everything from Pulse off of Cocoon!" the man shouted. "Dead or alive…It's all the same!"

Hope grabbed my hand and looked at me, and then looked up at Vanille. "We can't stay here… They'll kill us!"

I stood up, taking Hope with me. Then, the shaking stopped as a door ahead of us started glowing red. I thought it looked like the mark on Serah's upper arm.

The girl and Snow got up, and we all stared at the door as it stopped glowing and opened up.

Snow leaned over and put a hand on Serah's hands as he said, "Just hold on. I'll be right back, alright?" He walked around Serah and started his way towards the steps.

"Trench Coat, where are you going?" the man questioned.

Snow stopped walking and looked back at the man. "A date with the fal'Cie… Have some things to talk about." He walked up the steps and the man raised his hands in the air.

"What?" the man said confused, and put his hands to his side. "You're going to ask _that_ to help her? Are you really out of your mind?" He sighed as he continued. "That thing wants to chew us up, and then spit us out."

Snow glared and turned to the man; in fact, all of us.

"What do you want me to do, then?" Snow shouted.

The girl ignored him and walked passed him, up the steps.

"Lightning?" Snow asked, confused by her actions.

The man sighed and followed the girl named Lightning and Snow. "Here we go…"

I looked at Hope, who was suddenly clinging to my arm. I _was_ older than him; only by a year. I looked at Vanille then and sighed. "Let's follow them, I guess."

**I hope you liked this chapter. I really like imagining how things would go with Rhayne there, and I have my own idea for a later chapter. ****But it's going to be a filler chapter I think. Okay, anyways, review! :D**


	4. Branded With Fear

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

**Okay, so I'm gonna post this chapter and Chapter 5 now so I don't leave you guys with nothing new to read while I'm gone. As soon as I get home Monday, I'll post a chapter. So, Chapter 6 will be out before I leave. And then Chapter 7 will be out on Monday… That leaves Chapter 8 unpublished, and then you'll have to wait regularly for updates. Aw, I hate that. :/ Okay, enjoy! **

**Chapter 4: Branded With Fear**

We walked into the room, which was dim. Hope stayed close to me, but he wasn't clinging to my arm anymore like a child.

"So this is—" Hope started.

"—The fal'Cie." I cut in.

I felt cold suddenly, but I ignored it as Snow started shouting at the fal'Cie.

"Serah's now a crystal," Snow shouted. "You gave her a Focus. She completed it. You got what you want!"

"Now let her go!" Snow yelled. I wasn't really surprised at his desperation

Nothing happened, so Snow dropped to his knees and hands. "Please…Turn her back!" He sat up on his knees and put a hand on his chest. "I'll be your l'Cie instead!"

Lightning put a hand on her hip, clearly annoyed. "Alright…Fine. You go on begging." She took out her sword—no, gunblade. "Like this thing gives a damn as to what we want!"

Lightning charged at the fal'Cie and started slashing at it with her gunblade, obviously pissed off.

"Lightning!" I yelled as she fell back a bit, even though she resumed her stance.

Lightning looked back at all of us, and then back at the fal'Cie.

"It's this thing's fault that the Purge started!" Lightning shouted. "It's people who are dying!" She calmed down a bit, and looked at Snow. "Serah asked us to save Cocoon." She turned towards the fal'Cie. "That means that this thing needs to die!"

Suddenly, markings in the floor started to glow a bright yellow. I nearly shielded my eyes, but I stopped myself. The whole room started to glow brightly, and then a mark in front of the fal'Cie started to glow.

Twisting pillars rose out of the ground around the fal'Cie, and the light grew brighter. Everyone shielded their eyes and flinched. I fell back on my heels, trying to keep the light out of my eyes.

"I can't see!" Hope and I shouted in unison.

The fal'Cie suddenly opened up where the bright light was shining, and the light calmed down a bit. I looked up as something was starting to rise out of the fal'Cie.

"What the—?" I started to no one in particular.

Hope took his hands off of his ears and grabbed my arm, lifting me to my feet as he started to run.

"Where are we going?" I shouted over the noise.

"We need to get out of here!" Hope shouted back.

I stopped running, causing Hope to stop and look back at me, and then up and around us.

Gears were turning, and there were blue lights. Hope gripped my arm and started dragging me with him again. I had to admit; I was as scared as he was.

_But does that really mean that we have to leave everyone to that fal'Cie?_ I thought, looking back slightly as everyone got ready to fight.

I looked back ahead; we were near the door—

Hope fell back as a force field or something blocked us off. I was pulled to the ground with him, unfortunately.

Vanille ran over to us, panting and probably scared.

I heard the others starting to fight, their voices echoing down the hall.

As soon as the fight had started, it ended. I closed my eyes as everything suddenly went black, and then opened my eyes again. We were suddenly in the same room as everyone else. There was a purplish light in the room, and something was happening.

"What's going on?" I yelled.

We were all floating, and suddenly blue lights or something wrapped around me. They wrapped around everyone, immobilizing them.

I felt a sudden pain on my right arm and nearly screamed, trying to kick away from whatever was holding me in place, but I could hardly move.

And then suddenly I felt like I could move again, but I felt myself falling down into the dark.

**XxXxXxX**

"Hey mom, do you think…I could go with Jhasel to see his friends?" I asked shyly, looking at the ground with my hands behind my back.

A short woman with long light blue hair smiled and hugged me, nodding. "Of course you can, dear."

I giggled and hugged my mom, then backed up. "Thanks mom! We'll be back soon!" I said, and ran towards the door. I opened it and ran outside, chasing after my brother who was a little ways ahead.

My brother, Jhasel, turned towards me as soon as I caught up.

"Mom said yes, I take it?" My brother asked with a smile. I had to look up at him because he was so tall.

"Yeah!" I said excitedly. I hadn't seen Razhen and Tiscin in awhile; we hardly visited Bodhum, after all. We always had to pay to come here. But this time, our grandmother got us into Bodhum for free because she was a resident.

We wandered onto a small bridge, where two people were walking away. I saw Razhen and Tiscin snickering and whispering to each other, one of them occasionally pointing at the girl and the man walking away.

_Snow and Serah…_ I thought.

Razhen was a 21 year old with short red hair and forest green eyes, with a simple white vest with a teal jacket over it, red pants, and forest green shoes. He didn't really care what he wore everyday. He also had a red tattoo in the shape of a large flame on the left side of his face.

"What are you two doing?" I asked nosily with a smirk on my face. Planting my hands on my hips, I walked over to them slowly.

Tiscin and Razhen looked at me and then at each other, trying to think of what they were doing.

I laughed and dropped my hands to my sides. "Chill guys, I'm only joking."

Razhen put a hand behind his head and scratched it nervously. "Hah…yeah. Only joking…"

Tiscin shook his head and looked at me with a smile. "Nice to see you again Rhayne," he looked at Jhasel. "You too Jhasel."

Jhasel nodded and looked up at the fireworks.

"How about we go to our usual spot?" I suggested, following Jhasel's gaze.

Razhen nodded at this, and we started the walk to our usual small hill.

When we got there, I immediately laid down on my back. We had a pretty nice view of the fireworks from the hill.

_I wish…that someday, I can leave my family. Just…get out and go somewhere. Anywhere where I'll be free for a little while._

**XxXxXxX**

I woke up suddenly, sitting up. I looked around at my surroundings. Everything was…crystal. Everyone else was waking up too; Snow, Hope, Vanille, Lightning, and…the still unidentified man…

I looked at the unidentified man as he said, "This must be Lake Bresha."

He looked up as he continued, "I guess…we fell from up there," he looked up at a large crater in the crystal ceiling, "and the lake turned to crystal?"

"Did the fal'Cie do this?" I asked no one in particular as I stood up. "How the hell did we get here?"

I looked at Lightning, who just glanced at me and turned away. "How should I know?" she said.

Vanille fell to her knees and clasped her hands together at her chest. "But we're alive…How?"

"Serah!" Snow shouted. I looked at him, and he was looking at all of us.

"Serah saved us. She had to. No one can survive a fall from that high!"

Lightning glared at Snow. "Listen, it's your fault she got—"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" the man shouted as he slid to the ground behind Lightning as a giant monster that looked like a Cie'th walked up to all of us.

Snow ran in front of Lightning and avoided a hit from the monster. His left forearm suddenly started to glow blue as he threw a punch at the monster, shattering it quickly.

Snow looked at his forearm in confusion and some amazement, noticing the mark on his arm that was glowing blue. "What did…I just do?"

Hope stood up and looked at Snow. "You used magic!"

More of the Cie'th looking monsters charged up to our small group. I turned around as one of them started running towards me.

"You used the power of a l'Cie, Snow!" I shouted. I looked at the ground, clenching my fists. "The fal'Cie cursed us…We're l'Cie now!"

I pulled out my guns and shot at the giant Cie'th, fiery bullets making contact with it and completely demolishing it.

The others destroyed the other Cie'th, and I looked at my right arm. Of course, near my elbow on the upper side of my arm, was the mark of the l'Cie.

"You too?" Snow asked Vanille.

Vanille nodded and I turned around with my left hand over my l'Cie mark. Vanille lifted her skirt up slightly to reveal her mark.

Snow seemed to forget about me as he said, "Alright then, l'Cie to the last."

Hope dropped to his knees again, looking at his wrist. "Why me?" He looked at Lightning angrily. "I don't know you, yet you have to go and attack that thing? Just leave me alone!"

I looked at my right arm sadly, moving my hand to get another glimpse of my mark.

_If I didn't meet them…I would have never gotten into this mess. Mom and dad despise l'Cie…I can't ever return home… I should've never made that one wish… Then I would be home with Jhasel and my parents…right? Isn't that wish the reason I'm here?_

I looked up as Hope was pushed to the ground by Snow. He backed up into Lightning, and looked up at her. She was glaring down at him, so he crawled back to where he was, crouching with his hands over his head.

Before Vanille could do anything, I walked over to Hope and kneeled down next to him. He looked up at me and I smiled at him.

"Don't worry, okay? Everything will be just fine." I said, but did I really think that? Was I just trying to make Hope feel better? Probably…

I brought Hope to his feet and started walking away, making him follow me by grabbing his arm. "Let's go, then!"

We ran down a ramp, and I stopped running as I waited for the others to catch up.

"Um…Rhayne?" Hope mumbled.

"Hm?"

I looked at Hope as he started digging around in his pocket for something, but he gasped.

"Oh no… I think I lost it…" he said sadly.

"Lost what?" I asked him.

Hope went through his other pocket, and sighed with relief. "Never mind." He pulled out something silver, and I gasped a bit.

A silver chain bracelet was in his hand, and it had four charms on it; a red heart, a black pair of wings, a flower, and a yellow star.

I picked up the bracelet and slipped it onto my right wrist. I smiled at Hope and hugged him suddenly; really, I don't know what I was doing, but I just felt like hugging him.

Hope hesitated, stunned about my action.

I let go of him and grinned, looking towards the small ramp as Vanille, Lightning, Snow, and the other man walked down.

Hope suddenly looked down and walked away from us. I stared after him sadly, but looked over at Lightning as she said, "Alright…So if we don't know our Focus, how do we finish it?"

Vanille glanced down at the ground, and then at Lightning. "I think that…I saw it."

"Saw what?" I asked.

"That is how a Focus comes down," the man said. "The fal'Cie don't just spell it out with clear-cut instructions. All that you get? A hazy glimpse."

Snow and Lightning stared at the man, and he quickly answered, "Well, that's what they say, you know, legends and all…"

Lightning looked at Hope with her arms crossed. "Did you see anything?"

Hope glanced at Lightning and then back down at the ground. "I…um…I just— It's kinda…foggy…but..." He looked at Lightning, and then the rest of us. "There was this…big…and I mean _towering..._"

The man looked up in surprise and walked over to Hope, and then looked at the rest of us. "W-wait a second…Hold on now…"

I cut in before he could say anything else. "Did we…all have the same dream?"

Everyone looked at me, and then glanced at the ground…

And we all said it at once.

"Ragnarok."

"So we…all saw the same dream, huh?" I said quietly, looking at the ground.

"We all heard the same voice," the man finished.

"You mean…that was our Focus?" Hope questioned, walking up to me but looking at the man. He looked at the ground before saying, "How are we supposed to know what to do from that?"

"That's the tricky part." Vanille said. "The dream is the only hint that the fal'Cie give us. Figuring out how to do it? Now that's _our_ job."

"Okay, so…We're Pulse l'Cie, right?" I said, to which everyone nodded. "Enemies of Cocoon…So, does that mean, our Focus is—?" I shook my head. "Are we supposed to—?"

"Save her." Snow cut in.

The man looked at Snow in disbelief. "Say what?"

"Our Focus is to protect Cocoon!" Snow said as he walked forward.

"Really?" Vanille asked. "And why's that?"

There was a quick pause before Snow said, "Serah told us, remember? So let's do it! We're all in this together!"

I shook my head as Snow continued, "I'm gonna look for Serah. She's probably nearby!" And with that, he ran off through the next exit.

Vanille hesitated, but ran off after him as she said, "I'll come too!"

The man shook his head as he walked after them. "Sheesh…That boy really can't stay still."

"Tell me about it." Hope said. He started to walk off, and looked at Lightning. He shook his head and ran after the others.

Lightning crossed her arms and looked at me. "Did you really have the same dream as us?"

I nodded. "Of course I did!"

Lightning glared at me and turned around. "Tch…Not like it matters anyway."

I frowned and ran down the small slope after the others.

**I know what I'm going to add as a filler chapter! Yayyy! By the way, in the filler chapter, I'm going to add a new OC…Wait…You shouldn't know that…Ah to hell with it! :D Hopefully I'll have 10+ reviews by the time I get back. And thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and adding this story to their faves/alerts; it means a lot to me. ****Please review!**


	5. Losing Snow

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

**(Grrrr... I should've had this out already. :( I'm sooo sorry you guys. I hope I didn't lose any readers! We almost ran out of gas on the way home from New York, so I forgot all about posting this. Ugh! You can hate on me now. :( I'll post another chapter later. And I haven't even been working on any chapters, and I still have to edit Chapter, what, 7? I think this 100 degree weather has been messing with my head...)**

**_Chapter 5: Losing Snow_**

**XxXxXxX**

We ran awhile, fighting off monsters, but what were we really doing? Looking for Serah, or what? Honestly, I didn't know.

Eventually, we were stopped by Snow as he jumped off of a small hill that was covered in snow. "We fight it…Ragnarok! That's the reason we're l'Cie…To protect Cocoon!"

The man, who I finally identified as Sazh, remarked, "Yeah? Well how about you give us one reason to believe that? Just one reason."

Before I could even blink, Snow responded with, "Serah."

I shook my head. He used the 'Serah' excuse way too many times since I met him. Would he ever use a different excuse? I mean really.

"She said to protect Cocoon, and then she turned to crystal. That's the proof, right there! She finished her Focus! That just means that ours is to save Cocoon!"

Snow looked at Lightning. "Serah's fal'Cie was the same as ours. Our Focus has to be the same!" He put a hand over his chest as he continued walking. "We were chosen as guardians…Guardians to defeat Ragnarok! It makes sense!"

Sazh shook his head and walked forward, staring at Snow. "The hell it does! You're grasping at straws, son! Pulse fal'Cie are enemies of Cocoon. We just got recruited by one of them!" He sighed and walked up to Snow. "If I were a betting man…I'd put us on the other side."

"So Serah's an enemy too?" Snow remarked. "Well I don't buy it!" He walked over to Lightning, a hand over his l'Cie mark. "We have the power to save Cocoon! If we work together…and complete our Focus—…"

I backed up slightly as Lightning whipped out her gunblade, holding it against Snow's throat. "Our Focus? The fal'Cie took Serah from us, and you want to help it?" She glared at him. "Whose side are you on anyways?"

"Freeze!"

We all turned around to see PSICOM soldiers aiming guns at us. I backed up from them, but flinched as one aimed at me.

Two other PSICOM soldiers came up from around the bend near the hill Snow was on a few minutes ago.

"Place your hands behind your heads!" one of the soldiers said.

I put my hands behind my head, as did everyone else. Except for Lightning, but she dropped her gunblade as she glanced at the talking PSICOM soldier.

"You fall off the Purge train?" the soldier asked.

Lightning finally put her hands behind her head as she answered, "Maybe."

The PSICOM soldier marched up to Lightning angrily. "Are you talking back to me?"

Lightning almost flinched when the soldier put his gun up to her neck, but she wasn't truly scared.

"Nice gun." Lightning said, and made a quick action as she grabbed the gun out of the soldier's hands.

I tensed as I watched Lightning. _She's probably going to get us killed…_ I thought.

Lightning quickly took down the soldier, and the others swiftly went after her. She grabbed her gunblade and took down a soldier, going to take down the others just as fast.

The soldiers went down quicker than I thought, and I sighed with relief as I placed my hands back down at my sides.

"I thought these guys were tougher," Sazh said. "They're PSICOM, yeah? Supposed to be cream-of-the-crop."

Snow walked up to Sazh. "Yeah, but PSICOM is supposed to be an anti-Pulse task force. Haven't fought a war in centuries. Bunch of rookie troops swinging overpriced toys around."

I looked at Snow before saying, "So, from what you're telling us… It sounds like a regular old soldier has more experience and training than a special force."

Snow grinned and raised his hands. "Nothing that us l'Cie should be afraid of."

"Cut the crap." Lightning growled. "Their grunts might be green, but PSICOM's elites are cold-blooded soldiers. They hit the field, and it's game over."

"Oh, oh! Then let's run away!" Vanille said. She pointed towards our next direction before making a super girly pose, and then started running. "Ciao!"

Sazh raised a hand towards Vanille. "Hey…Hey wait a sec…Wait!"

I smiled and chased after Vanille, Hope quickly following me.

Vanille, Hope and I ran ahead of the others. Vanille was skipping, so I just skipped along with her, giggling. Hope just ran along besides us with a smile.

Behind us, I could just barely hear the others talking.

"It's just not right. Why did kids have to get dragged into this?" Sazh asked no one in particular.

Snow smiled. "No worries. I'll keep the kids out of trouble."

Sazh laughed and patted Snow's back. "Problem with that is, you're one of them."

"Hey—!"

Sazh sighed. "Should've never gone after the Pulse fal'Cie. That was our first mistake… We should've left it to the Sanctum."

Vanille stopped skipping, and so did I. She turned around and I felt my left arm go up. I looked at Vanille, who was waving my arm and Hope's arm, trying to get the attention of the others.

"Why not? I mean, we've counted on the Sanctum for food, water… Everything since we were born." Sazh continued.

I smiled at Vanille and Hope. I felt…glad that I was with them, Sazh, Lightning, and Snow. Or, maybe I felt scared… Scared of what my parents would say when I saw them again…_If_ I ever saw them again, because I mean…don't we turn to crystal once we complete our Focus? _Like Serah?_

"But you still helped us do it," Snow said. "Why's that? It's gotta be something."

"There might've been…" Sazh answered. "Not so sure anymore."

We started walking again, just the six of us in a group. We eventually walked onto the Purge train, and Vanille said exactly what I was thinking.

"The train must've fallen too." Vanille said.

We walked down a ramp of the train's roof, and Lightning and Snow gasped as they looked over.

I followed their gaze and smiled a bit, but I think I looked sad at the same time.

"Serah…" Lightning whispered.

Lightning went to walk over to Serah's still crystallized form, but Snow ran in front of her.

"Serah!" Snow yelled.

Snow walked over to Serah and kneeled down. "I'll get you out of there, alright?" He turned around and grabbed a gun or something from the bunch of crystal next to him. He turned around and started stabbing at Serah's crystal form.

Vanille ran next to him with a large nail or something that was probably from the train. "I'll help you!" she said, and started to stab at the crystal as well.

Sazh grabbed something and started stabbing at the crystal also.

I glanced at Lightning as she whispered, "This is good bye." She turned around and started to walk away, but stopped when Snow called her name.

"You're just gonna leave her?" Snow questioned her, almost angrily. He had stopped stabbing at the crystal and turned around to Lightning.

"PSICOM will be here soon." Lightning answered. "If they find us… We'll all be dead. You think that Serah would want that?" She looked at the ground. "Do you think that you know how she feels?"

Lightning started walking away again, and Snow said, "If I leave her, then I'll never know! We'll be fine… I can handle anything they throw at us. No one will die!" Snow stared after Lightning. "I'll protect Serah…and Cocoon."

Lightning stopped walking and looked at Snow angrily. She walked back up to him and punched him right in the face again, causing Vanille and I to gasp.

"Does she look protected to you?" Lightning questioned him.

Snow glared and got up. "I can save her!" he growled. He fell back down again as Lightning punched him in the face once again.

"What can you possibly do?" Lightning shouted, about to punch him again.

"Whatever it takes!" Snow said.

Lightning stared at him, and unclenched her fist slowly as it dropped down to her side.

"Whoa… You two are hopeless…" Sazh said, walking away. "You just can't admit it. You want to stay as much as he does."

Snow sat back down in front of Serah and started stabbing at the crystal again, along with Vanille.

I walked over to Sazh with a small smile, deciding to make small chat with him since I never really got to talk with him as much as the others. "They both have their reasons, don't they? Snow wants to save Serah, and Lightning…well, who knows what Lightning's reason is."

Sazh laughed slightly. "Alright, how old are you? Honestly would be nice."

I smiled. "Fifteen." I said with a small giggle.

Sazh shook his head with a smile. "I don't believe it. You act like you're nineteen sometimes."

I laughed at his answer, but stopped when he said, "Sometimes you act like you're eight though!"

"Hey!" I said, planting my hands on my hips with a small laugh. I think I was laughing too much…

"I'm just tellin' the truth." Sazh said with a smile. He held out his hand when a small chocobo chick flew out onto his palm from his hair.

"The little guy must get really tired sometimes, huh?" I said as I started to pet the small chocobo with my left index finger.

"He's a lucky one," Sazh said. "He at least has me to be with him."

"Hey Sazh…" I said quietly. "Was this chocobo the only one you had with you on the Purge train?"

Sazh sighed with a nod. "Yeah… Were you with anyone?"

I looked at the ground as my left hand dropped to my side. "Yeah. I was with my brother, Jhasel. Mom and dad were at home at the time…" I shook my head a bit to keep the tears away. "But when I return home…I don't know what mom and dad will say. They despise l'Cie greatly—"

"Well, I'll explain to them what happened." Sazh said, trying to reassure me. I looked up at him with a smile.

"But I can't make any promises, alright? If I'm not with you," the chocobo chick flew back into his hair. "then you have to face them yourself. Unless someone else is with you, that is."

I smiled. "Thanks Sazh."

Sazh sighed and crossed his arms, but started panicking when a bright light shone on him.

"Whoa…No…Oh no… No, no, no! No, not now!" Sazh shouted. I looked over at the train and gasped when I saw something…giant.

I fell back and stared at the giant thing…It looked like a giant dragonfly, but without wings. Or maybe a huge metal snake? I wasn't sure, to be honest!

The giant mechanical monster flew down towards us with a bright light. Did it belong to PSICOM?

"Stand back!" Snow shouted, standing in a fighting stance with Lightning and Sazh.

I cowered behind a block of crystal with Vanille and Hope so that we wouldn't be injured by the monster.

Eventually, the monster was taken down. We got up and followed the others, eventually reaching an exit. Lightning turned to leave, and I stared at her.

Snow got in front of her. "So wait a minute. You're just gonna leave?"

"Snow, we want to help Serah too…" I said, and I briefly looked at Serah's crystallized form. "But, without the proper tools—we'd be digging for days, you know?"

Sazh nodded in agreement. "The army's on our trail. Our best solution right now is too keep moving. …For now," he said.

Snow obviously got pissed at this. "So you're saying that I just abandon her to save myself?" he shouted.

"What about your Focus?" Lightning said. I had forgotten about our Focus until Lightning mentioned it, to be honest…

"What happened to banding together to save the world?" Lightning continued. "Isn't that what you promised? Now you want to forget it all? Die right here?" Lightning shook her head. "Snow, you're nothing but talk." She walked past Snow angrily.

I watched as Snow clenched his fist even more, but unclenched it as soon as he said, "Lightning!"

Lightning stopped walking to listen to what Snow had to say.

"I'll do whatever it takes. I'll finish this Focus…And protect Serah," he continued. "That's my promise."

"Great job so far." Lightning said after a brief pause, and walked off again.

Sazh walked up to Snow, probably unsure of what to say.

"Stay out of trouble." Snow said simply.

"You too." Sazh replied, patting Snow's shoulder and walking off after Lightning.

"Get going." Snow smiled, pointing towards Lightning and Sazh with his thumb.

Vanille nodded and walked off after the two.

Hope went to follow her, but stopped.

I looked at Snow, and then at Hope as he walked back in front of Snow. I sighed and walked up next to him to wait.

"Snow…" Hope said. He paused, and I crossed my arms. Did he really not know what to say to Snow?

I was about to say it for him, but Snow cut in.

"Save it for next time, kiddo." Snow said. "You'll get left behind." He smiled.

Hope went to go off with the others, but I didn't move. I sighed again as Hope went back in front of Snow again. "But…"

"It's alright, Hope." Snow said. "Light will take care of you. We'll meet again, alright?" he grinned.

Hope hesitated, and eventually nodded. "Right…count on it." I moved out of his way as he ran off, and I was about to follow but stopped as Snow looked at me.

"Good luck…Snow." I said, not making contact with Snow as I stared at the ground.

Snow chuckled a bit and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, and saw that he was staring down at me. "You stay out of trouble too, alright? Take care of the others. I know you're strong too," he grinned as he ruffled my hair.

I smiled and nodded, running ahead to Hope, who started running as soon as I caught up with him.

_When this happened, I knew that I considered everyone as family… I don't know how, so don't ask me why, but I just did… Sazh was like the father, and I could tell he cared a lot about the group when I had a small conversation with him. Vanille was like a big sister; always being cheerful and happy. It made me happy too. I didn't know what to think of Hope…He was like a brother to me, I guess, but I didn't know to be honest… Lightning was like another big sister, even though I haven't talked to her too much. The only time it was just me and her, was when she questioned me, and she was being rude. Maybe she was like the bitchy sister? Heh, and then there's Snow… I guess I thought of him…as a big brother. He was insane sometimes, sure, but sometimes he was protective…_

**XxXxXxX**

**Okay guys, I'm still posting Chapter 6 too, but it'll be a bit before I get Chapter 7 out. That's good too, because I want a lot more reviews before I post Chapter 7. . Anyone who is putting this in favorites/alerts, you can review too. It's not that hard! **

**Rhayne: Just press the blue letters at the bottom of this page that say "Review this Chapter"! They're underlined too! Like Dawning Break says; not that hard! **

**Rhayne and I: _PLEASE REVIEW!_**


	6. Wait, Replay!

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

******Wow, I kind of feel that this chapter is weak, but it's better than nothing. :) There IS this one review I would like to respond to, though...**

**joliechose151 - Sorry, but your review doesn't bother me at all. :) Even though you say that this story is crappy, everyone encourages me to go on with it. There are other people that may enjoy this story; if you want to tell me my story is crappy, then why don't you PM me instead of telling me in a review? To me, reviews are meant to HELP the author, not give them negative thoughts about their story. :) I'm guessing that you don't have that much experience in fan fictions either, since I checked your profile and I saw no stories written. Hah, why am I even responding to your review anyways? You're keeping readers away from my story now, so yeah, just keep your opinion to yourself next time. Thanks. :)**

_**Chapter 6: Wait, Replay!**_

The five of us ran down various paths for a while; it was always quiet, as if there was tension between us all. When we crossed a tube though, Sazh was reluctant, saying that it looked slippery, but he crossed anyways.

Eventually, we had come to another tube and crossed it. Vanille, Hope and I ran ahead of Lightning and Sazh, getting us into a conversation.

"Hey Hope…"

Hope glanced slightly at Vanille.

"Did you get a chance to talk to him?" Vanille asked.

"No…" Hope mumbled.

I sighed. "Hope, you're never going to make things right if you don't talk to him."

Hope shot a look at me. "Says the person who lost her brother by the same guy. Besides, words won't change a thing."

I shook my head, and looked up at a machine. I noticed that Lightning was eyeing it too.

"Looks operational." Lightning concluded, and jumped up, slashing the gun on the top. It fired a few times, breaking the wall that had been blocking us off. With that came a bunch of large frogs that hopped across the bridge towards us.

Lightning made quick work of them with Vanille and Sazh, and we continued across the bridge quickly. I decided not to make any talk with Hope, seeing as he would walk away from me whenever I neared him.

_Fine,_ I thought. _We'll leave it that way._

We were spotted by an Alpha Behemoth, and Hope and I took cover—separately, of course. Lightning, Sazh, and Vanille got in their usual fighting stances, weapons ready.

It took a few minutes, but Lightning, Vanille, and Sazh took the beast down with little struggle. We continued on our way, but I stopped walking when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and then I heard the sound of an engine.

I looked at Sazh, and he was looking down towards a yellow airship; the same thing that I saw. "Well would you look at that…They're sending in cruisers."

We continued on to a cliff and crouched down, watching as PSICOM soldiers walked out of a large yellow cruiser. They were yelling orders at each other, and suddenly, I felt…scared.

"Must be hunting down Purge survivors." Sazh suggested.

"I hope everyone…made it out alright." Vanille said.

"So do I." Sazh said. "But no where is safe for them now."

I sat back on my bum and looked at Hope. He was hugging his knees to his chest with his feet crossed. I felt bad for him, and then I looked back down at the cruiser.

"Damn it!" Sazh nearly shouted.

Vanille and I looked at Sazh, who slammed his fist against the crystallized ground.

"Just because they shared a neighborhood with a fal'Cie…" he said.

"They get treated like Pulse-tainted rats," he finished.

"People really hate Pulse… Don't they?" Vanille questioned, looking down at the cruiser.

I sighed and looked at the ground. "Not hate…" I whispered. "More like fear…"

Sazh must've heard me, because he continued from where I left off. "Tens of millions of Pulse people… All scared of Pulse boogeymen…" He looked down at his l'Cie marking. "They'd be shaking in their beds every night if they knew," he continued. "that l'Cie like us were around."

I clenched my fists. _Mom and dad would freak if they ever found out…_ I thought. _Because of the fact that I was a l'Cie... If they didn't care, then they'd freak because I was hanging out with a bunch of l'Cie. _I suddenly felt saddened—no, angry actually.

"But, they purged that entire town." Vanille said.

"I know, but the Sanctum fal'Cie did nothing to stop it… Up until now, Eden's always stepped in. To correct their errors in judgment," he looked up at the sky. "I guess humans just aren't worth the effort. Figure they'll just let us kill each other off."

I looked up at Hope as he stood up, staring at Sazh.

"L'Cie aren't human." Hope said.

Vanille stood up and walked over to Hope, definitely not calm. "Listen you, that's enough!" She grabbed his wrist and stared at his mark, but just walked off a little ways after letting him go and then looked at the sky.

I don't know what happened, but I suddenly got seriously pissed. I stood up with my fists clenched, and looked at Sazh, to Lightning, to Hope, and then to Vanille.

"How can you guys just sound so…So weak?" I said angrily.

Everyone looked at me, but I wasn't nervous at all. I just shook my head.

"So what, if us l'Cie aren't human…" I said, staring at Hope suddenly. "Some of us l'Cie are good, aren't we?" I didn't know what that had to do with anything, but I just said it…

I looked at the ground, letting a tear escape and fall down. "We're not all bad… Right?" I said as I put my left hand over my chest.

I felt Hope walk up to me. He put a hand on my arm, near my l'Cie mark.

"Rhayne…calm—…"

I backed away from Hope, pulling out my guns just as quick.

"Don't touch me…" I whispered, aiming one of my guns at Hope.

I didn't know what had gotten into me, but I just felt angry at my friends. The whole world, actually. I didn't even know why I pulled my gun on Hope; he was innocent, right? So why?

Vanille gasped slightly at me and put her hands over her mouth sadly. Sazh just stared at me, almost with guilt. He knew what had happened to me during the Purge, so maybe he felt guilty about…about what?

"How about you calm down?" Lightning said, standing up and walking up next to Hope.

I seemed to relax a bit as I looked at the ground again, breathing heavily, almost nervously now.

"I guess…I just need to be alone." I whispered. I just suddenly ran off then, away from them, ignoring Hope and Vanille as they called my name.

**xXxXxXx**

I fell to my knees and dropped my guns as soon as I had gotten far enough away from my friends. I felt tired, and I didn't even care as to where I ended up.

So many thoughts were running through my head…Like, why was I angry at my friends? My only friends in this whole situation… I had almost attacked Hope, too. I worried Vanille; I made Sazh feel guilty… Who knew how I made Lightning feel; probably angry at me.

"Put your hands behind your head!"

I froze and looked behind me slowly. Four PSICOM soldiers had their guns aimed at me. When had they gotten there? Oh right, I couldn't hear anything outside of my thoughts… I wasn't a match for them, and I knew it. So I just stood up and did as I was told, breathing heavily.

"Now come along with us, and you won't be hurt…" one of the soldiers said calmly. I knew he was lying about the 'you won't be hurt' part, but I walked over to them slowly and quietly.

The soldiers and I walked along in the small cavern. I was in the middle of them, their guns pointed at me. Except for the soldier in front of me, of course. And I really didn't want to mess with them; I was shorter than them, and probably weaker.

All of a sudden, the soldier in front collapsed as something shot at him.

The three soldiers looked at me as if I was their greatest problem. Oh wait, that's right, I probably was.

"What did you do?" the soldier to my right asked.

"Nothing!" I shouted, my hands still behind my head. Believe me, you don't want to be in that position; especially for an overall of about twenty minutes.

The soldier to my left suddenly went down also, and the remaining soldiers looked around, alert.

"Now that we're even…"

I looked up to my left. Standing on a cliff was a skinny, almost muscular man, but it wasn't Tiscin. This man had cobalt-blue hair that reached his shoulders. He was tall, but I couldn't tell that well, considering he was on a cliff and I was on the ground... He was wearing a forest green short sleeved t-shirt with black pants that had various pockets, black combat boots, forest green open-fingered gloves, and a light green bandana around his neck. He jumped down to me and the PSICOM soldiers, and I took note that his eyes were forest green, unlike mine, and he had something sheathed on his back.

"Another l'Cie!" the soldier behind me shouted.

I looked the man up and down, and found his mark. His left pant leg was ripped and stopped above his knee. His l'Cie mark was located on his shin, right below his knee.

The man put something away in one of his pockets, and grabbed another something out of the pouch on his pack. He pulled out something square, but it turned into a large sword. It was almost like the way Vanille's rod and Lightning's gunblade folded and unfolded.

The man charged at the PSICOM soldier that had spoken and slashed at him. I looked at the soldier to my right and punched him in the face. I had left my guns way behind, so my only offense was my hands and feet. Too bad that the PSICOM soldier was wearing a helmet, so my hand hurt afterwards.

The PSICOM soldier I had punched stumbled back but quickly regained his senses and shot at me. I charged at him, letting the bullet make contact with my left arm, and punched him again, kicking him right after. I ignored the pain in my foot and hand again. Note to self: Never punch or kick an armored PSICOM soldier again. Ever.

The man had obviously finished off the other PSICOM soldier, because he charged towards mine and slashed at him, finishing him off with a blue glow.

"Who are you?" I asked, getting in a fighting stance.

The man looked at me. "You really don't remember? After how many days?"

I shook my head and closed my eyes. "I don't know you!"

The man sighed and walked up to me. I looked up at him to see a red tattoo shaped like a flame on the left side of his face. He grinned at me before saying, "Remember now?"

I stared at him; was this really…? "No way… You…Didn't you…?" I yelled, my voice rising with each word. It was my friend Razhen… I didn't know what had happened to him after we got on the Purge train.

Razhen shook his head. "I survived with Tiscin… After we lost you and Jhasel, we made a bet," he said, looking at me with a smile before quoting, "'Whoever finds Rhayne or Jhasel first, has to pay Gil.' Funny actually, seeing as Tiscin and I were both broke at the time."

I looked at the ground before looking up at Razhen again. I smiled softly before saying, "Jhasel is…well…dead."

Razhen sighed as he stared at me sadly. "Dead, eh? Died in that Operation NORA group or whatever?"

"Yeah…Apparently." I said. "Uh, don't leave yet…" I continued as I found him beginning to walk away.

Razhen looked back at me; I could've sworn that I saw a tear in his eye.

"Um… I need…protection, I guess." I continued after some hesitation. "I mean… I don't have weapons."

Razhen closed his eyes and inhaled, then exhaled as he opened his eyes again. "Alright. I'll get you out of here."

I smiled, feeling that I easily deceived Razhen, but I was surprised when he threw something at me. I caught it though, which only made me fall back on my bum.

"What is—?" I tried to say.

"You need it more than I do. Besides, you can't use guns forever, right?" Razhen said, taking my old guns out from two of the pockets on his pants.

I looked down at the pouch containing the folded sword. It looked so new, too… He couldn't have been serious; he was exchanging a brand new looking sword for two old guns?

"Uh…Thanks?" I said; the confusion was pretty obvious in my voice.

I stood up and tied the pouch to my right thigh. It didn't weigh me down at all, so I was pretty glad.

"We need to get going." Razhen said. I looked at him and he nodded his head, trying to tell me to look behind. I turned around to see a few PSICOM soldiers walking around, but they hadn't spotted us yet.

I turned back around as Razhen started running away, and I followed him quickly. This was going to be one hell of a trip, and I could tell.

**XxXxXxX**

**I tried my best to make this fantastic. Now I have to edit ALL of Chapter 7 because I changed this chapter, so that means you won't see Chapter 7 for a while. Can I get more reviews? :)**

**Rhayne:** If you have a SUCKY review, then please don't post it. If you're reading this but not reviewing, please review. :) If you're adding this to faves/alerts, PLEASE review. Otherwise, you shall never see Chapter 7.

**Uh, Rhayne...Forget it. -_- PLEASE REVIEW!**

**VVVVVV**


	7. Surely Not a Faire

_**Tears of Rainfall**_

Ahhhh, I am SO sorry for the longish wait. I got some reviews though - that's good. Sorry if you feel that this chapter is just BLEH. And this update would be really later if my mom hadn't talked to this company to get our internet back up. So thanks mom! If it weren't for her, this update would've been here by Saturday or so. :X

Disclaimer: I absolutely DO NOT own Final Fantasy XIII. If I did, then I would add Rhayne to the game. Obviously.

_**Chapter 7: Surely Not a Faire**_

**XxXxXxX**

"_Mom…Why do you despise l'Cie?"_

…

"_Dad? What about you?"_

…

My eyes fluttered open as my small dream ended. Whatever it was, it was pitch black, and all I heard was one single voice that sounded like mine.

"So, she's awake."

I looked dizzily at whoever had spoken, and realized that I wasn't on the ground, and I sure wasn't walking either. I was on someone's back.

"What—?" I started.

"Are you okay Rhayne?"

I shook my head, and dropped to my feet as whoever was holding me let go. I looked around, and as my vision refocused, I realized that I was with Lightning, Sazh, Hope, and Vanille again.

A small yellow bird fluttered down in front of my face, chirping. I realized that it was Sazh's chocobo. He'd been napping in my hair probably. I smiled at him, and held out my palm as he fluttered onto it.

"I'm really sorry, you guys." I said with a frown. "I guess I shouldn't of yelled like that, huh?"

Hope shook his head, smiling at me. "Really, it's okay!"

Vanille nodded and walked over to me, giving me a hug. "We all forgave you, don't worry about it!"

I smiled again as Vanille let go of me with a smile planted on her face.

"Thanks." I said, and looked at Lightning. She hadn't talked at all, and instead she was staring down at something in her hand. I followed her gaze, and my expression went from happy, to confused.

Lightning had a pouch in her hand, and a hilt was sticking out of it. She looked at me and walked over, handing the pouch over to me.

"It's yours. We found it next to you," she said simply.

I took it, and brought out the hilt. As soon as I brought it out, it unfolded in to a large sword. The hilt was wrapped in a thin black cloth; the blade itself was silver with a picture of a feather engraved into the side.

"Great, I was getting sick of using guns anyway." I said with a smile, turning around and swinging the sword once. It glimmered with a red glow for a few seconds, but it faded away quickly.

"Come on, let's go!" Vanille said with excitement. I turned towards her with a smile and the sword automatically folded up before I put it back into the pouch. I tied the pouch onto my right thigh and caught up with the others, who had begun walking again.

We walked into a large room that had no ceiling. It was probably some ruins, but flames were frozen around the inner walls.

"I'm going to explore!" Vanille shouted, and ran ahead of us.

Lightning sighed and turned to me, Sazh, and Hope.

"Uh, Vanille," I said. "I don't think that's a good idea. Really, I don't!" I shouted.

Vanille ignored me and skipped over to a large crater in the ground, examining it.

I suddenly had a thought; _wasn't I with Razhen before? Or was it a dream? It couldn't have been because I have his sword with me right now; that's proof… I can't recall what happened before Lightning and the others found me again. Strange…_

I shook my head and looked at the others, but there was a loud scream, and Vanille started running towards us. I looked over at her, and gasped as a huge flying monster tried to attack Vanille, and flew after her as she ran.

"Come on, over here!" Sazh shouted, and pushed Vanille behind him as she got closer.

I got up next to Lightning, who looked at me as she took out her gunblade.

"You're gonna fight too?" Lightning asked me. I nodded as I took out my sword, getting in a battle stance.

Sazh took out his guns, getting prepared for the battle.

The monster stopped and swooped down towards us, knocking us back and causing a little damage.

I stood up and charged at the monster, jumping up and slicing three times at its head before jumping back down. I didn't even know that I could do that. Maybe it was because I became a l'Cie…

Lightning jumped up at the monster and slashed at it four times, jumping back down afterwards.

Sazh shot a few rounds at the monster before it screeched and flew back around, through some crystal and turning into a ball as it started glowing.

"What's it doing?" I pondered.

"It's charging." Lightning answered simply.

"Charging? Wait, charging for what?" Sazh said with a little fear.

"It's charging for its last moments." Lightning answered again, planting a hand on her hip.

Lightning charged forward, Sazh and I following. I jumped up and sliced at the monster a few times again, falling back down to the ground.

Sazh shot at the monster again with his guns, and Lightning jumped up and slashed the monster as well.

After a few more attacks from us, the monster went down and we had to back up a few steps as the monster disappeared in a blast of fire.

Vanille looked up, and started giggling as she started skipping forward. "Check it out!" Apparently she had discovered an airship of some sort.

"Might as well go inside, right?" I said as I looked up at the airship or whatever it was, following Vanille.

Hope went to say something, but just shrugged it off and followed us.

Sazh nodded in agreement and followed along with Lightning.

"This should make things easier than before!" Vanille said, clasping her hands together.

"Uh huh… And with our luck, this thing's probably missing an engine." Sazh said, walking up next to Vanille and crossing his arms.

"You really shouldn't be so negative, Sazh!" Vanille said, her hands dropping to her sides.

"Yeah, and you should stop getting your hopes up all the time." Sazh said while walking up to the airship.

I sighed and smiled at Vanille as she huffed, either upset or angry. I followed after Sazh with Vanille and Hope following afterwards.

We walked inside the air ship, and noticed that there were just enough seats. I sat down in one of the seats, Hope sitting next to me and Vanille on the other side. Lightning and Sazh took the seats in front of the controls, and Sazh started the air ship.

Surprisingly, it worked. That was good.

Until other air ships started shooting at us. Sazh immediately took a hold of the controls and started to drive the air ship, trying to get us away from the enemies. Everyone except for Lightning was screaming. The whole thing was insane!

"Get us out of here!" I screamed.

"I'm trying!" Sazh yelled.

"Give me that!" Lightning shouted.

"What? Hey—!"

Lightning grabbed the controls and pressed a few buttons while steering the air ship. We all stopped screaming momentarily as Vanille said, "Did we get them?"

"Only _one_ of them!" Lightning growled.

"They're still after us!" Hope yelled.

We screamed as Lightning steered us around buildings with a bunch of air ships shooting at us like crazy. It was _not_ a fun ride.

"Hey, Lightning! I said stop! Hand over the controls!" Sazh yelled, trying to get the controls back. He finally pushed Lightning away and took a hold of the controls once again. He steered us up towards a crevice quickly, the air ships following suite.

"How are we gonna lose them?" I yelled at Sazh.

"You've got me, kid!" Sazh yelled back.

"Then let me take over!" Lightning shouted, gripping the arm rests of her seat.

"No, but thanks!" Sazh shouted at her, working on getting us through the crevice.

We finally got out and shot into the sky. The sky looked beautiful, and Vanille must of thought so too when she gasped at it.

The beauty was sadly interrupted when the air ships shot at us again.

Sazh looked back with a glare. "They're still behind us?"

I unbuckled myself from the seat and took a hold of Sazh's seat immediately. I looked over his shoulder and pointed at a button. "Press that one!"

Sazh swatted my hand away as he said, "I know what I'm doing!"

"Just listen to me!" I shouted.

"Sit back down!" Lightning yelled.

We shot through clouds, trying to avoid the enemy air ships and take them out in return.

I fell back onto Hope while he was still seated, and muttered a quick apology before looking at Sazh and Lightning.

Hope's face went a little red as he looked at me, which I noticed when I looked back to see the enemies still flying after us.

We dipped down to a river, hoping to lose them, but it was no use as they followed us.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Sazh shouted. He pressed a button before shouting, "Hang on, you guys!"

"Oh, so NOW you press the button!" I yelled after looking at Sazh again. He just ignored me, as usual because he needed to concentrate.

I gripped the arm rests of Hope's seat, and everyone else grabbed their arm rests. Hope shifted a little before putting his hands on top of mine, but I didn't make another move as Sazh blasted a rock cliff that was in front of us. We flew through the tunnel that had suddenly opened and came through the other side as the entrance caved in.

I sighed with relief. "Finally… We lost them." I panted since I was just scared to death from the damned 'ride'.

"For the love of all that's good!" Sazh shouted, putting his head down as he banged his fist on the desk of the control system. The screen changed suddenly, and Sazh raised his head as a voice sounded from…somewhere.

"_And now, an update on the status of the Purge," _a voice said. I looked at the screen in front of me, staring at the woman in the broadcast.

"_Just moments ago, Sanctum announced the successful conclusion of the Purge, along with the safe arrival of the Cocoon migrants to their new homes on Pulse."_

Sazh shook his head and pressed a button on the screen. It showed an old-looking man sitting down.

"_Yes, that is indeed correct. There's absolutely no denying the enormity of the strain that the Purge placed on us all. But, given the tens of millions lives at stake, there really, truly was no alternative."_

The screen minimized to show a young-looking man.

"_Primarch Dysley stood by the move, stressing the necessity of the relocation. When asked about future Purges, the Primarch remained silent, stating that he'd seek counsel with the fal'Cie Eden and weigh all options before making a decision."_

I stared at the screen, clenching and unclenching my fists. I looked up at the sky, and then at Hope, who looked annoyed, and it obviously wasn't because I was sitting on him.

"Yeah, that's right. If it makes Sanctum look back, then it never happened." Sazh said.

I looked back at the screen as the old man started stalking again.

"_In all of the centuries since the War of Transgression, Cocoon has spared Pulse aggression, and has been prospered for it. It is essential that we continue this peace. That is the Sanctum's focus. We will continue employing every single resource available to combat these threats to the harmony of our society."_

Sazh sighed and glanced back at us. "This means, we'll be running for the rest of our lives."

"Hey." Vanille squeaked. "Umm, who is this guy?" she asked as she pointed at the man on the screen.

Sazh sighed and put his head down. "Really, what do they teach kids these days? He's Galenth Dysley. The Sanctum Primarch. Murderer-in-Chief."

I ignored the annoying woman as she started speaking again.

"Just another tool of the fal'Cie." Lightning said.

"Let's just Purge everybody! Yeah, that'll fix it for sure." Sazh said sarcastically.

I giggled a bit at his comment, but I stopped when there was a sudden red glow inside the airship, and there was a continuous beeping sound.

We flew back up into the air as the enemies started shooting at us again. I closed my eyes and put a hand up as a blinding light came through the windows of the airship. We flew up farther until the light disappeared, and I opened my eyes.

"Whoa…" Vanille mumbled.

I looked up as a large black and gold machine or something came into view with fire glowing under it.

"Is that—?" I started.

Sazh nodded. "A Sanctum fal'Cie close up and personal…Cocoon's light in the sky." He smiled a bit and Chocobo popped out of his air to look at the light, but the ship was suddenly hit again.

"Here we go again…" I mumbled, gripping the arm rests again, or rather, Hope's hands.

"Fly in." Lightning suggested. "We'll lose them then."

We started to fly around the fal'Cie's fire, but we got hit a few times as air ships were demolished.

"I think I like this fal'Cie!" Sazh shouted.

We got hit again, and I gripped Hope's hands even tighter as we started to freefall towards the ground. Just to let you know, it was terrifying.

**XxXxXxX**

**See? It must've been BLEH. But hey, atleast there was a TINY HopexRhayne moment... I think you had to squint... Err... *facepalm* Anyways, I just got a brand new idea. **

**Rhayne: She's got an idea... And it PROBABLY has to do with me... *looks at the Review this Chapter button***

**Rhayne, shut up, of course it has to do with you. But this means I have to redo Chapter 8... Ah whatever, it's only at 2 pages right now anyways. And it would suit the lyrics to Rhayne's Theme better. By the way, go to my profile so you can see what to search for on Youtube to find the music to Rhayne's Theme. I thought it suited her really good. :) Okay, please REVIEW! :)**


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